Delhi Wakes Up to Hazy Morning, Despite Ban on Firecrackers by SC
A blanket of smog took over Delhi and the National Capital Region on Friday morning, as it witnessed a noisy and smoky air till late hours on Thursday night.
Despite a quiet and promising Diwali, as the Supreme Court banned firecrackers in Delhi, nothing seemed to change as far as the pollution level was concerned.
The online indicators of the pollution monitoring stations in the city glowed red, indicating a ‘very poor’ air quality as the volume of ultra fine particulates PM2.5 and PM10, which enter the respiratory system and manage to reach the bloodstream, sharply increased from around 7 pm on Thursday.
Real time pollution data appeared alarming. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s (DPCC) RK Puram monitoring station recorded PM2.5 and PM10 at 878 and 1,179 micrograms per cubic metre at around 11 pm.
The pollutants had violated the corresponding 24-hour safe limits of 60 and 100 respectively, by up to 10 times.
While it is difficult to quantify the immediate effect of the ban on firecrackers, residents across the national capital felt the beginning was promising with neighbourhoods reporting much lesser noise and smoke till about 6 pm, compared to the previous years, but as the festivities picked up, the echos of crackers started growing louder by every hour.
As per SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research), the 24-hour rolling average of PM2.5 and PM10 were 154 and 256 micrograms per cubic metre respectively, at around 11 pm on Thursday.
The neighbouring regions of Delhi such as Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad witnessed a similar scene.
If the air quality dips further, the AQI will turn ‘severe’, which may trouble even those with sound health conditions and seriously affect those with ailments.
-PTC News
